The Blue Jays already have traded catcher Mike Napoli, one of two players they acquired for Vernon Wells. They also would like to trade the other half of their return, outfielder Juan Rivera, major league sources say.

Rivera’s middle name ought to be “available.” The Angels finally dumped him by including him in the Wells trade. The Blue Jays took on Rivera’s $5.25 million salary as part of the price for moving Wells. But Rivera, a potential free agent, is not in the team’s long-range plans.

For now, Rivera projects to be a reserve if the Jays go with an outfield of Travis Snider, Rajai Davis and Jose Bautista, or a regular in one corner if Bautista plays third. It’s not likely the Jays will trade Rivera before the start of spring training; they may need to wait for teams to develop needs after the exhibition games begin.

A quicker resolution could position the Jays to sign free-agent outfielder Scott Podsednik, who is a more established leadoff man than Davis. The Jays also could add a third baseman and keep Bautista at his preferred position, right field. But third basemen are far more difficult to acquire than outfielders.

— Ken Rosenthal

2 Comments:

At least we got rid of the contract, and dead weight. Bring up the young fellows, see if Bautista was a fluke if not give him his long term contract and wait for trade deadline and/or free agency to get more talent.